A Quest for Redemption
by OctoReader
Summary: Berglyn is a drow mage that has had it with the evils and corruption of drow society. Watch Berglyn as he journeys to the surface and what awaits him there is much more different then he expects.
1. Chapter 1

It was the start of another "day" in the dark city of the Drow. Whether the sun was up did not matter to the Drow. They had no need for sunlight or the other substances the surface provided after being driven underground eons ago by their Wood and High elven counterparts. The Drow eventually adapted to their underground surroundings and turned to the spider Goddess Lolth for guidance. Lolth told the Drow to build cities, great magnificent cities in the ground, unheaded by the civilizations that thrived on the surface. Everyone had a place in Drow society with the Priestesses being the leaders. If you could fight you would be a soldier. If you could not fight you would be a mage. If you could not study sorcery you would be a laborer. And if you could not labor you would be cast out. Only those worthy to Lolth would be allowed to live in her cities.

Drow society began its cycle early and was never dormant for long as all Drow would get up to do their tasks to keep the fragile civilization alive but one Drow was up even earlier. He was a frail fellow who had no use for swords or anything of the such. Fighting was never his strong suit. He was a young mage of only 80 or so years (considerably young for Elf standards) and was hard at work in his room, bent over a piece of parchment. His desk was cluttered with all sorts of unusual tidbits and materials, a spider eye there, a vial of worm juice there. A small lantern glistened in the dark with a blue hue from a purplish flame, obviously not kindled from mere oil or cinder. The Drow brushed aside his long copper hair and adjusted his cloak to examine his work.

It was a small vial painstakingly carved out of bone instead of glass. The elf sighed. Bags were over his eyes for he barely had slept all night. Now all to do was administer the final touch. The elf briskly walked over to his cabinet. The rest of Drow society was waking up. The last thing he needed was them to discover his...project. He had to finish it.

Quickly but quietly, the elf opened the cabinet full of different mixtures of sorts. He eventually found the substance he was looking for, purple worm venom. Normally this substance was rare and expensive on the surface bu purple worms were in abundance in the underground so this poison was commonplace. It was all he needed.

Carefully unscrewing the lid. The elf took a sniff of the liquid. Yup, definitely purple worm poison. Its stark and sour smell was just a hint of how toxic the poison really was, one sip of this and your body would instantly shut down and you would die in horrible agony. The elf shuddered at the thought, for this would be the key ingredient in his potion and he would have to be very careful of how he would have to administer it. With utmost care, he slowly poured the liquid into the container. The next step would have have to be done with utmost precision or all this would be for nothing.

The elf quietly muttered an enchantment and the liquid inside the vial as well as his his right hand immediately began to glow a bright blue. He immediately clenched his hand in a fist and the liquid began to glow a dark shade of crimson and swirl violently. The elf began to sweat as his dark colored hand started to pale and turn white from how hard he was clenching his fist. The elf's eyes were completely focused on the liquid, waiting for the right moment. Now! The elf immediately unclenched his fist and collapsed onto his desk from the effort. Panting, he looked up and checked his concoction. It was bubbling softly and was now a deep shade of crimson that resembled blood. Success!

The elf slammed the cork on the vial and he could here the mixture hiss and then complete and utter silence. He had done it.

The elf then began to dislodge the loose stone in the floor of his laboratory. Carefully, he put the vial in the hole left in the stone when he heard a voice.

"Berglyn!"

The elf immediately fumbled with the stone to cover the vial as the door to his office opened.

"Berglyn! Have you been up here all night?" said a slick feminine voice. The visitor was a tall female elf with bleach white hair.

Berglyn immediately recognized the figure, "Kiala, I take it you rested well?" Berglyn struggled to hide the venom in his voice as much as he would like to punch the hell out of Kiala. Besides she was a member of the Guard and much stronger than him. Behind the jet black cloak she was wearing concealed leather armor, a longsword, and strong arms that could break him in two like a twig. All that was behind his cloak was a dagger and some swamp weed.

"What are you doing up this early?" said Kiala accusingly. She was obviously suspicious.

Berglyn reacted quickly, "What I have been doing would be far to complex for a simple foot soldier to understand." He silently swore to himself. He was doing the equivalent to poking a dragon.

"You mages are ignorant fools!" Kiala said with fury. "It is the Guard who provide you with protection from the outside world so you can stay up late and work on Lolth knows what!"

"Get out of my office before I turn you into spider dung!" Berglyn shouted.

Kiala spat at his feet before turning away and saying with one foot already out the door, "Watch your step Berglyn. Just you wait! One day you will get what's coming for you. Just you wait!" And with that she slammed the door.

Berglyn sighed as he slumped over in his stool. He truly hated her. In fact, he hated the entire Guard. Not because they were all arrogant brutes. No, for a much deeper reason. They were killers. No better than pirates or bandits. On the quietest of nights, they would sneak up to the surface and pillage nearby settlements, making slaves of those they didn't kill. Occasionally, he would hear the cries and pleas of new prisoners being tortured until they lost every once of their free will.

It was horrible and made him want to throw up just at the thought. Those brought down from the surface were truly innocent. Even if their ancestors did banish the Drow down here eons ago they had nothing do with it. "The entire surface world hardly concerns themselves with us anymore." he thought to himself. Berglyn was no fool, it was the Drow who held the grudge, not the surface dwellers. Justifying their actions was a fools game.

Berglyn wisely kept these thoughts to himself. He was living in no democracy. Anyone who defied Lolth's word would be silenced and with little explanation. Berglyn saw it all. A neighbor would disappear without a trace. A captain would die in a raid with no body to reclaim. Berglyn was always a step ahead of the fountain of lies that plagued the underground realm, using his magic to go where must couldn't go and to see what must couldn't see.

He was through with this madness. Tonight, he would brave the dangers of the underground to reach the surface and then he would begin his new life. Weeks of preparation had lead him to this point. He must make sure nothing goes wrong.

Normally, Berglyn would be working right now, creating various poisons for the Drow to use on their weapons. He was an expert alchemist and worked day and night on his creations. The times he seldom went out he would always have his wand in reach and he was seldom out for long. Wide open areas made him nervous, vulnerable. In his laboratory, he was in control. Every ingredient and spell bended to his whim and under his expert eye things would always go smoothly as long as he was present.

However, his upcoming scheme was different. His plan was extremely risky and a lot of it was dependent on the proficiency of others, not himself. That's what made him nervous. Even if everything did go to plan what would happen when he reached the surface? How would he integrate with a society that universally hated his kind? For all he knew he would be killed on the spot.

As Berglyn was thinking these things he felt a sudden tap on his shoulder. Immediately and with lightning quick speed Berglyn drew his wand on the intruder, preparing to incinerate them before they could call the authorities. To his surprise this intruder was laughing.

"Hahahahaha! What a jest! You looked like you were about to blow your own sister out of the sky!" laughed a tall female elf in a long dark cloak.

"I was," Berglyn stated as he looked up to his older sister. "Do you realize how incredibly stupid it is to attempt to sneak into a room such as this?"

"Ay, but I have snuck in rooms far more dangerous than this one," stated Bergylyn's sister as she took of her unusually large cape. Berglyn could see her more clearly now that she wasn't wearing that ridiculous cape. She was wearing a jet black set of leather armor that had all sorts of terrifying equipment on it. Her arms held several rings of sheaths wrapped around them like bangles that concealed a variety of sharp looking daggers and knives. Her belt was just as deadly and contained several foul smelling vials, probably poison, as well as a long dirty piece of cloth that seemed to be an improvised gag of some sort. Even her boots contained weapons as Berglyn could see the thin outline of a dagger's hilt just barely peeking out of one.

"Talk about dressed to kill," Berglyn thought. "So, Inra, I take it you are ready for this evening," he stated as he tried to calm his nerves after he just thought there was a squad of drow in his office a second ago.

"Oh trust me brother, I'm as eager to escape this place as you are. Do you know how high my bounty is now?" She could not have been anymore correct. Berglyn's sister was as much as a fugitive as she was an assassin. Berglyn had heard all these rumors of high ranking Drow being murdered in their sleep. Many speculated who the murderer was but Berglyn knew the truth. It was Inra. She was always willing to do anything for money, even if it meant killing someone. Berglyn hardly kept in touch. It sometimes surprised him that Inra had such a flamboyant and somewhat flirty personality when she had killed more people than he had fingers for without batting an eye.

"My God, Berglyn you look horrible! How much rest did you get?" said Inra.

"None," said Berglyn plainly. "Nevermind that, how did you get in here."

"Your girlfriend is a terrible housekeeper," stated Inra a matter of factly. "She didn't even lock the door."

"Say she is my girlfriend one more time and I _will_ blow you out of the sky," Berglyn fumed as he pointed his wand at Inra.

"Your dead." Inra responded flatly.

Berglyn put down his wand, "I beg your pardon."

"Your dead. If you act like your usual sociopathic self to those on the surface you will be dead before you can even blink."

"They'll have a hard time trying to do so. A very hard time." retorted Berglyn.

"What folly! You think your magic makes you invincible? Why I just snuck in here not a moment ago and could have just easily stuck a dagger in your back!" said Inra with a hint of warning in her voice.

Berglyn was silent. Inra had a point. He was no archmage. He knew some magic but not enough to fend off an army of surface dwellers. Power like that required a devoted life of study and experience. He was just a minor in the world of magic. The only people he had seen that had come close to anything resembling an archmage were the Priestesses, the rulers of drow society, the speakers of Lolth. The Priestesses tapped into powerful demonic magic that made his look like a joke. Of all drow society he feared the priestesses the most for they were the eyes and ears of Lolth Herself and were just as cruel. Even a mage like he could not hold his own against a priestess and that was what truly scared him.

"Thinking?" questioned Inra.

Berglyn sighed, "Yes, I am Inra. Yes I am. I am thinking of all the ways our plan could go wrong. All the ways we could be punished."

"Well look at it this way, by preparing yourself for the worst, there's no way it could possibly go worse than you think it will be." said Inra.

Inra was never so wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**I started this fanfic for the love of D and D and I was so excited when I put the first chapter up! I hope to continue this fanfic for as long as I can and I thank all of you for any support. I appreciate all reviews! Please, leave one! It only takes a minute of your time! I must also give credit to my younger cousin for helping me edit this and I want to thank her because it means a lot. Anyways, I hope you will continue to follow Berglyn and Inra on their quest as I continue the story!**

 **Chapter 2:**

"Now," said Berglyn as he got up from his desk and turned over the loose stone. "Let's get down to business shall we." Berglyn then went to take the bone vial and unscrew the cork, "This, my dear sister, is the key to our escape. This potion will-"

"The invisibility potion?" interrupted Inra.

"Yes, an invisibility potion" said Berglyn with a hint of annoyance in his voice as he held the magical mixture in his hand. "This is no ordinary invisibility potion though. It is one specifically prepared to last for long periods. I would say about an hour in our case."

"Excuse me, but did you say an _hour_." said Inra dumbfounded. She obviously was oblivious to what he was capable of.

"Yes, one drought of this potion should be enough to get us out of the city gates and past any Guard patrols," said Berglyn while he stared wide eyed at the vile he was holding as if he was holding life itself. "It will have to."

"If it is supposed to last an hour. I'm sure it will," said Inra dismissively "Tonight then? Right here?"

"Yes, right her but be careful there is-" Inra was already out the door not giving a moments notice to what he was about to say. He hated when she did that.

"Tonight, then." said Berglyn to himself. "Tonight." And with that Berglyn put the stone back in its proper place and waited for night to fall.

* * *

 **That night…**

Everything was in place. Berglyn had waited until Kiala had retired to her quarters before making the preparations in the privacy of his laboratory. Berglyn quietly gathered his wand and packed all the necessary supplies in his backpack. They would be in the underground for a while.

The plan was simple. Berglyn had recently found himself privileged to get ahold of an old map of an abandoned tunnel. The drow constantly were using and making tunnels to navigate the underground. Why this one was abandoned was anyone's guess. Regardless, he and Inra would escape to this tunnel under the cover of invisibility while hoping not to draw any attention from any guards on duty that night. With Inra's thieving capabilities and the aid of his invisibility potion that should be easy enough but they must prepare themselves for the worst possible scenario. Berglyn had prepared some of his most potent spells that night and he sure Inra would be prepared to take out any guards that got to curious. With all this in place they should be able to-

"Well Berglyn, it's good to see your alive tonight." said Inra perched on his windowsill.

Berglyn quickly glanced at the door. It was in the same position he had left it. "What in-!? How did you get in here?" Berglyn demanded in a harsh whisper.

"The window. I couldn't risk entering the front door out in the open at this hour. You know the curfew." said Inra logically. Berglyn nodded grimly. All drow must be in their homes at this hour unless they were given permission to do otherwise. The curfew was strictly enforced. All the more reason for his potion.

Berglyn sighed nervously as he pulled out the loose stone and took out the potion. Berglyn carefully removed the cork of the vial and whispered, "So, shall we begin?"

"This would be a good as time as any," answered Inra impatiently. "Are you sure this thing will work?" If the circumstances weren't so dependent on stealth Berglyn would have laughed at her question. He cracked a smile and snickered, "You decided to start asking these questions now?"

"Well forgive me if I'm a bit nervous about swallowing some magic goo." retorted Inra. "Were wasting time. Let's just get on with this."

"Fine, but remember that you won't be able to see me until you have taken your drought of the potion." stated Berglyn a matter-of -factly while taking a quick whiff of the potion. "To us then?" he said raising the vial as if he were making a toast at a banquet.

"To us," responded Inra.

And with that Berglyn took a hearty drought and he began to feel a slight tingling sensation. Since he technically designed the potion so he could see himself as well as other invisible creatures he had no way of knowing the potion had actually worked. He took a quick glance at Inra to find a dumbfounded expression on her face as she visibly gawked in his general direction. Yep, it had worked alright.

"Bergylyn! I can't see you! Pass me the vial!" said Inra a bit too loudly.

"Shhhh!" said Berglyn. "Keep your voice down and stay calm. I'll pass you the potion in a second but since you can't see it we must do it very carefully." Berglyn slowly outstretched his arm so Inra could feel it and then carefully handed her the invisible vial. Inra then put the invisible vial to her mouth but hesitated.

"It's not going to kill you. Just drink it." instructed Berglyn.

"Are you sure this will work? What if-"

"Drink...the...POTION!" commanded Berglyn harshly. Inra obeyed and drank the strange mixture in one gulp. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust but she soon was able to completely see her brother.

"Wasn't so bad," said Inra as she casually drew a knife out of its sheath. "Now come on. Let's get out of here." Her voice was devoid of her usual humor and sarcasm. This was not the normal Inra Berglyn was used to. He could see it in her eyes as they burned with determination and resolve. This was the dangerous Inra. The Inra that would even kill to reach her goals.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" said Inra darkly as she pointed her knife in the direction of the door.

"Yes, you are quite right." stated Berglyn as he opened the door. "Ladies first."

They both carefully opened the door and silently creeped through the house. Berglyn nearly tripped over the weight of his backpack in the communal room only to see Inra slink on ahead to the next room without making so much as a peep. Every action Inra took in the house was calculated to make the least amount of noise possible. With a thieves eye, Inra would avoid any stray pieces of refuse or furniture in a room while moving as quickly as possible. It was all Berglyn could do to keep up without waking up everyone in the household.

Eventually, they reached the front door and Inra silently opened it revealing the dark streets of the cities. Cautiously, Berglyn and Inra stepped out into the streets. There was no one there because of the curfew and it made the streets have an eerie silence to them. The only illumination was from the occasional lantern leaning up against a home. The lanterns had an eerie almost ghostlike quality to them that was only heightened by their purple glow. Looking up, the duo could see the dome of the city, composed entirely of a sparkling sheet of web to protect the city from invaders. With no one in the streets, the duo pressed on. A few blocks away was the gate and if they were careful, they would be able to pass any guards undetected.

Quickly making their way through the twists and turns of the street under the cover of invisibility, they were making good time. Considering that they were only a block away from the gate, Berglyn was optimistic but he wasn't taking any chances. He gripped his wand tightly as they sprinted across the street. He could also see Inra had a similar mindset as he could see the bright glint of Inra's knife in her hand.

Rounding the last corner, Berglyn could see the gate no more than 50 or so feet away and that's when he stopped dead in his tracks. He practically could not believe his eyes when he saw the figure that stood no more than a couple of meters away from him. A priestess dressed in regal attire of flowing lilac robes was addressing a squad of guards lined up in front of her. She was obviously not happy.

"And you Lirdavyn!" she screamed as she pointed a pale finger to a female elf in chainmail who seemed to lead the squad. "I find you and your guards gambling in the street leaving the gate unattended and you call yourself a captain."

The captain kneeled before the priestess, "Forgive me, priestess I-"

"Forgiveness? Forgiveness!?" yelled the priestess, "I ought to feed you to the spiders and let them rip you limb from limb."

Berglyn analyzed the situation. He counted about 8 guards including the captain. He could probably dispatch them with some effort but the priestess was an entirely different matter. Berglyn could only imagine what kind of magic she wielded but he doubted he would be able to hold his own for long against her. However, they had the element of surprise and were practically undetectable because of his potion. All they needed to do was double back and wait for the priestess to leave. Berglyn turned to look at Inra, she was on the ground in a crouch with her knife drawn. She was like a coiled spring, ready to burst into action if the situation presented itself. Berglyn could see fear in her eyes and see sweat trickling down her forehead. Berglyn could tell she was fighting the urge to run in the opposite direction as fast as she could but she appeared to be holding her ground.

Meanwhile the argument ensued, "Priestess, I am deeply sorry at all possible levels." said the drow captain with her head down.

"No, you are not." laughed the drow priestess darkly. "You are just scared of me and trying to avoid punishment."

"Priestess I am not..." the drow captain did not finish her sentence. She immediately clutched her hands on her throat as if she were choking. Her hands began to twitch uncontrollably and her body began to turn an unnatural red as if it were irritated by some sort of supernatural disease. With a blood curdling scream the captain began to violently squirm on the ground as if it were hot coals. She started screaming madly as sticky black tears began to flow out of her eyes. The captain began to twitch even more violently and her skin became redder and redder until all at once it stopped. The drow captain was breathing heavily and curled up on the ground as if she had just been through the depths of hell. It was powerful dark magic no doubt. Berglyn imagined that was only a sliver of what the priestess was capable of and he certainly didn't want to be on the receiving end of a spell like that. Inra looked horrified. If she was scared of a potion made by her brother Berglyn couldn't imagine how much that spell must've terrified her. Berglyn began to slowly back away. They needed to get out of here. Now.

"Yes, I believe you are now truly sorry." said the priestess. "And be grateful that I still have need of you or it could have been much worse. Now-" The priestess immediately stopped what she was doing and stared intently in Berglyn and Inra's direction. A million things began to race began through Berglyn's head. Surely this was some sort of coincidence? No, she was staring straight at them but how could she possibly have seen through invisibility? It had to be something else. Something obvious.

Their shadows. Berglyn swore as he looked behind him and saw a shadow that seemed an entire league long. Berglyn turned toward Inra and saw her flexing her arm back.

"No! Don't…!" Berglyn's was a second to late as Inra had already thrown her knife. It hurdled with expert aim toward the priestess' skull but the projectile never made contact. The priestess simply waved her hand and the knife clattered uselessly on the cobblestone street.

"There," said the priestess as she addressed the stunned squad with a finger pointed toward the tow shadows. "It appears we have a visitor."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Berglyn immediately drew his wand and with a loud bang fired a bolt of blue light directly at the priestess. However, she simply swatted at it as if it were a fly and the bolt richouched onto the ground. Berglyn looked over to Inra but she was sprinting in the opposite direction. The bloody fool. If they were to survive this they needed to stick together. The priestess noticed Inra's shadow's sudden retreat and pointed her finger in Inra's general direction. From her fingertip came coils of webbing that hurtled through the air only to land just a few meters stray from Inra's general location. Inra's speed and agility had saved her.

Knowing Inra was already out of range the priestess screamed to the dumbfounded squad, "Follow that shadow or it be the spider pits with you!" The guards hurryingly obeyed and ran down the street, leaving Berglyn alone with the priestess. Alone. Berglyn grimaced. If only Inra had not betrayed him, at least then he would have advantage in numbers but no. He should have none better than to trust his cousin. She was just in it for herself and was willing to abandon her own flesh and blood if the situation was grim. Disgusted, Berglyn turned to face the priestess.

"Well, invisible man, why do you continue to hide when I already can clearly see your location?" said the priestess mockingly. The comment surprised Berglyn as he was still invisible so he was shocked at how the priestess was able to discern his gender.

Sensing Berglyn's surprise, the priestess continued, "Yes, I know you are a man. Only a man would be stupid and cowardly enough to rely on invisibility when presented with a mage such as myself." There was hatred in her voice. A hatred that stemmed from a long history of sexism in drow society and Berglyn was no stranger to this. Drow society was female oriented with only females being allowed to hold positions of power and become priestesses. Berglyn was lucky that he was naturally attuned to magic. It allowed him to have some sort of safeguard from performing slave labor which was what the majority of males did in drow society. All the more reason for him to hate the drow. All the more reason to get out of here.

"At least I have enough honor not to torture my own soldiers!" said Berglyn bodely. If he was to die (which was highly possible) he wasn't going down without a fight.

"Fool! I'll shall enjoy killing you!" screamed the priestess before muttering a spell and summoning two giant spiders, each about the size of a large cart. This was already going bad. Outnumbered three to one. This was going to be difficult.

Crying out, Berglyn unleashed a cloud of flame from his hands toward the priestess. The spell connected and the priestess screamed as her cloak caught fire. Yelling at her spiders in some animalistic tongue, she pointed toward Berglyn while trying to extinguish herself. The spiders obeyed and charged in Berglyn's general direction at surprising speed. Berglyn prepared to cast a spell at the two spiders but hesitated. Spiders, even one's trained by the Drow, had limited intellect. Perhaps they wouldn't see him if he layed low.

This moment of hesitation cost him dearly as one of the spiders released webbing directly towards him. Berglyn attempted to side step it but it was too late. He was now ensnared in a net of sticky webbing. The spiders must have some sort of mechanism to see through invisibility. Looking up, Berglyn could see one of the spiders looming over him. He could see eight yellow eyes glaring directly at him with a desire to kill. Berglyn attempted to swing at the beast with with his staff but was immediately struck down by the hulking spider as it stepped on him. Berglyn could see the priestess now. She was calmly walking over to his ensnared form as if he were nothing more than a nuisance. Berglyn could feel the ego and smugness radiating of her. She was clearly eager to enjoy her victory.

"So," she said standing over his invisible form clearly outlined by the webbing "How does it feel knowing you are going to die."

"Better than living in this place." said Berglyn through gritted teeth.

He had an idea. It was a desperate one and he would most likely be killed but wasn't he already going to die?

"Well this seems to be it." said Berglyn leaning back in the webbing as if it were a rocking chair. "But before I leave may I ask a favor."

"You already lost that privilege long ago traitor." sneared the priestess. "But have at it."

"Tell me how it feels to get burned alive when I see you in the next life." remarked Berglyn casually.

"Wait! You-!" stuttered the priestess but it was already to late. Berglyn had already put the spell in motion. Berglyn conjuered a ball of flame in his hand and threw it directly in front of him.

He felt the blast immediately. A searing explosion of flame erupted from the ground engulfing the spiders, the priestess, and himself. He knew the chances of him surviving were slim but he would rather die fighting then die a prisoner at the hands of the priestess. The next moments were a blur as he felt an intense blast of heat and saw his surroundings burst into chaos and flame.

After a few seconds, Berglyn felt his head hit the ground violently. He just fell face first into the ground. Every nerve in his body felt like it was on fire. His head was ringing. He tried to stand up but couldn't. This was it. He was going to die. He laid his head to his side in defeat. That's when he saw his backpack.

It was lying only about ten feet away from him. He knew what he had to do. Dragging himself along the rough ground, Berglyn desperately attempted to reach his backpack. His muscles screamed in protest but he knew that he would not make it if he stopped moving. He was ready to pass out. He was ready to give up but something kept him going. A will. A will so strong that it burned hotter than the flames that currently covered the city streets. He would not die here! Not now! Not yet!

With one last grunt of effort, Berglyn collapsed onto his backpack. With trembling fingers, he opened the contents and drew a silver vial. He barely had the strength to unscrew it before shoving it in his mouth. He felt the liquid trickle down his parched throat and instantly felt slightly better. The ringing in his head stopped and the pain of the burns lessened a bit. He slowly got to his feet and stared at the vial mesmerized. The healing potion had saved him.

He always had a couple of spare potions handy in the event of an emergency but even he had not expected this outcome. Despite this healing potion saving him from the brink of death it was not perfect. He felt exhausted and could still feel his burns. He was still wounded and was definitely was in no condition to defend himself. He looked back at his handiwork and saw a large sheet of fire spreading across the streets. There would be more guards coming and he had no idea where Inra had gone. His best bet would be to exit the city through the now unguarded gate and make it to the tunnel. In other words, he should continue as planned whether Inra was coming or not. Inra could take care of herself anyway. Besides, she quite literally abandoned him so if she was going to get herself killed because of her actions it sure wasn't his problem.

Berglyn began to see other drow run out of their homes yelling and pointing at the fire. Most were gathering weapons and preparing for an attack. Berglyn nearly forgot he was invisible as a drow ran down the street right past him. There would be more guards coming soon. He needed to get out of here. Now.

Berglyn gunned it right through the gate and into the dark cave complex the drow called home. Once Berglyn was well away from the gate he took a look at his surroundings. The Underdark was a massive cavern with many interconnected tunnels and a variety of creatures. The city was built in a cavern so big Berglyn couldn't even see the top. At the edges of the cavern, Berglyn could make out dozens of tunnels of varying shapes and sizes. Some seemed to be used heavily while others seemed to be overgrown with giant fungus or collapsed. At a glance, finding the right tunnel could seem to be a daunting task but Berglyn had spent months scouting the proper tunnel and training his eyes to find it amidst the tunnel's many look alikes. This tunnel entrance was covered with a sheet of vine-like fungus, a telltale sign that the tunnel was suffering from disuse.

Berglyn took one last look at the city he had lived in all his life and turned to face the challenge at hand. This fungus was too thick to navigate so Berglyn drew his dagger and began to cut away at the fungus. He would have to hurry, his invisibility was going to wear off soon.

Eventually, Berglyn was several yards into the cavern. Although, with this vine-like fungus greatly obscuring his view who was he to say how far he had gotten? Berglyn patiently continued his work of slashing through the fungus. Then he saw it. The gleam of a knife just a few feet away from him.

He reacted a split second to late and he saw a figure spring out of the thick fungus as he felt himself grabbed violently from behind. In his surprise Berglyn dropped his dagger and he heard it clatter uselessly to the floor. He could see a long sharp blade held directly to his neck while a gloved hand covered his face.

"Make one sound and I slit my knife right through that neck of yours."

Berglyn immediately calmed down after he heard that voice and cracked a smile. He knew who this was. It was Inra.

Inra appeared to recognize this too as he suddenly felt the grip on his neck suddenly release.

"Oh Lolth, Berglyn! I'm so sorry!" said Inra as she dropped her knife and covered her mouth in surprise.

"Do not speak of that name!" snapped Berglyn suddenly. " I hold no allegiance to that demon."

"Forget that!" exclaimed Inra. "How did you make it out of there alive?"

"It's a very long story." responded Berglyn flatly.

"It doesn't look pretty. You're robes look horrible." stated Inra as she eyed Berglyn up and down. Berglyn looked at his robes and noticed that much of the fabric was seared off in the blast. His robes were practically in tatters.

"Wait, are those burns?" said Inra suddenly. Berglyn silently hissed in pain. The sting of his burns was still there. The potion saved him from the brink of death but his lesser wounds were still there.

"Yes, Inra those are burns." hissed Berglyn impatiently. He was too tired to deal with this. He just wanted to lie down and rest. "Please, Inra enough. I have had too much to process for today. I'm so tired I can barely stand."

"Agreed, but seriously Berglyn, I'm glad your okay." said Inra with a smile.

"Says the one who abandoned her own brother." snapped Berglyn with a grimace.

"Berglyn! You know very well there is nothing I can do against a magic user." stated Inra defensively.

"That's not the point. If we are to survive this journey you need to follow my instructions! You ignored me and ran off!" exclaimed Berglyn with anger in his voice.

"And when did we declare you the leader?" questioned Inra with a raised eyebrow. "If you are going to get yourself killed with some folly plan of yours I honestly don't give a crap."

"That kind of talk is nothing you should be saying to your own flesh and blood." said Berglyn. "Now if you'll excuse me I need some rest." He was done arguing with fools. There was no use reasoning with insanity.

And with that Berglyn slumped up onto the wall of the cavern and fell asleep without saying a word.

 **Aye! It's Octoreader. I hope your enjoying my story so far. I actually took Berglyn's quote about insanity from MTG (really good game) Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

 **Welp, it's been a while. I've had finals and I'm finally on summer vacation so expect this to be updated a lot. I hope you are enjoying the fanfic as much as I am and please leave a review! They really make my day! If anyone has any suggestions for fanmade characters (OC's) I would be more than happy to put them in for you. I cannot guarantee when or if they will be accepted but I'll try to put as many characters as the plot can afford. But yeah, if you have any fan made characters you want in a story just leave them in a review/comment.**

Well this was not going good. They were hopelessly lost in the fungal infested cavern. Vine-like fungus covered the entire tunnel, making it difficult for Berglyn and Inra to make out the direction they were going or even each other.

"This is hopeless!" Inra screamed in frustration as she blindly groped through the vines.

"Please be quiet." said Berglyn

"Oh, so now your giving me orders? Well, if you thought you were the leader of this group then you've got-"

"I said be quiet!" roared Berglyn. "I hear something…"

Inra immediately lowered her voice to a low whisper, "What is it?"

Berglyn put a hand to his ear and after a few brief moments he stated, "I think I hear running water. Do you hear it?"

Inra kept silent and listened, and sure enough, she heard a faint gushing sound much like one you would hear near a stream.

"According to the old tapestries I studied, we're supposed to turn to an underground river and follow it and that should lead to what was described as some sort of abandoned stronghold that leads to the surface." said Berglyn.

"Excuse me, did you say stronghold?" said Inra with a questioning look at Berglyn.

Berglyn rolled his eyes. " _ **Yes**_ Inra, an _**abandoned**_ stronghold. That means no one's living there." He said this in an odd way as if he were trying to be funny. Inra gave her brother a knowing gaze. Whenever Berglyn tried to crack a joke he was about as funny as dried spider dung. That's just how wizards are she guessed.

"Abandoned doesn't mean no one is there. This is the Underdark! All sorts of monstrosities and species take shelter in abandoned areas. It's practically free housing! Someone's bound to be living there." exclaimed Inra a-matter-of-factly.

"I'll take my chances." said Berglyn as he revealed his wand from under his cloak . "Besides, where else can we go?" Berglyn began to twirl his wand thoughtfully in his hand. If there _**was**_ something in the stronghold, he would have an edge with his magic. Then again, he must not get cocky. Many a wizard lost everything to arrogance. The Priestess he burned alive included...

She woke up with a foggy head and her ears ringing like bells. Her name was Lenora, one of the seven priestess' who made up the council of the Drow. She held that title and wore it with honor. Soon she would lead the pathetic excuse for a council and the city of Drow would remember the name Lenora. It was no secret on the council that her magical potential was more than everyone there put together. The other priestess' feared her and every appearance made by her was followed with hushed whispers the moment she left. So why was it that a amatuer in robes managed to beat her?

She let her arrogance get the best of her. She let her guard down and she knew it. It was in that very moment when that man struck. Setting everything ablaze and escaping into the Underdark.

Right now, she was in a silk bed. Opening her eyes she saw she as in her living quarters. Expecting to see burns all over her body, she looked at her skin only to find nothing there. No scars. No nothing. No one could have possibly healed her this efficiently without any magic. Definitely the work of a master healer.

She was safe. She was in her own home. So why wasn't she happy? It was because that man in the robes was still alive. She could feel it in her gut. He was still out there, somewhere, alive and well. It made her sick. She would find and _**kill**_ that man even if she had to search the entire Underdark. She would make sure to make his death a special one and she would relish in his agony. Then and _**only**_ then would she be happy. As soon as she was able she would convince the council to find and destroy that man.

Then there was that women. That girl who bolted and away as soon as she confronted them. Surely, she was not knowledgeable in the ways of magic or she would have shown it. There was very little she could've judged about her because of the invisibility. All she could make out was a knife and a trailing cape. Some sort of sneak no doubt.

While Lenora pondered these things she could hear a knock on the door. "Come in!" yelled Lenora. As the door opened, Lenora could clearly see her visitor, a poorly dressed human whose clothes were rather filthy. Lenora knew very well who this human was and was not at all startled at his presence. This man went by the name of Tam. Not voluntarily of course, she gave him that name. She gave a new name for all her slaves. He was a spirited one when he first came to her, she would give him that, but with a little persistence he soon became her tame pet.

"Well, what is it?" demanded Lenora. She could tell there was something different with the way Tam was acting. He seemed more nervous than usual. His eyes darted back and forth as if he was about to be attacked. "Well?" demanded Lenora.

Tam instantly responded saying, "My Lady, there is someone who wants to see you." Tam did an awkward sort of bow as if to apologize for the delay. Honestly, humans had so many ways to show respect for one another. So many stances, gestures, and phrases. In Lenora's opinion, the best thing a human could do to show her respect would be to stay out of her way.

"Well do not admit them in! I am very busy!" replied Lenora.

"My Lady, I'm afraid she insists," replied Tam meekly

"And who dares try to force their presence on to me?"

Suddenly, the door opened revealing a tall Drow women with the long flowing robes of a priestess. Her hair was a shean of silver giving her head an almost metallic look. Lenora, to her dismay, immediately recognized her.

"It is rude to talk that way to the one that saved your life," said the Drow as she entered the room and closed the door behind her. Lenora face turned red with anger as she glared at the arrogant fool. Balaena, Spider Whisperer, as she was called was also on the council. Lenora truly hated that women. Of all the members of the council, Lenora was by far the most frustrating obstacle in her path to seizing power. Constantly voting against her and pressing against her proposals, Baleana was a consistent thorn in Lenora's side. The fact that Baleana decided to invite herself into the room was infuriating to Lenora. Unfortunately, Lenora had to facade politeness.

"Well, Balaena I must thank you for your presence. Was it you who healed me?"

"Why yes, Lenora. I always liked you. It would be a shame to lose such a valuable asset." responded Baleana while stroking her silver hair. Cute. Lenora could see that Baleana was taking jabs at her under that restrained tone. Baleana wasn't fooling anyone.

"Now I must get down to business sadly," sighed Baleana as if she were about to have to do something unpleasent. It was the kind of sigh you gave when you had to get your hands dirty. "To put it simply," said Baleana "The council doesn't feel your fit to serve anymore."

"WHAT?!" Lenora screamed almost leaping out of her bed. This was not good. Not good at all.

"I'm sorry but the council believes that your inability to capture a simple fugitive warrants relief of your position." said Baleana with a straight face. Despite that Lenora felt Baleana was almost certainly savoring every minute of this. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Tam had left the room.

"Additionally," continued Baleana, "we feel a variety of other, how should we put it, factors warrant banishment from our city."

Lenora heart practically stopped. She could not believe what she was hearing. She dropped her composure, practically flying out of bed, and screamed, "This is ridiculous! All drow of all stature are guaranteed sanctuary by Lolth's ruling!" Lenora began to take deep breaths to calm herself down. She breathed heavily and stared Baleana right in the face with a sheer hatred. However, as she did so she saw a slight in Baleana's face. Baleana's neutral expression to a crooked smile.

"You think...after what you tried to do... you would even be here?!" said Baleana in a angry whisper. She was shaking as if she were strongly resisting the urge to kill Lenora at this moment. Lenora however would take advantage of Baleana's penance. She quickly grabbed her staff by her bedside. She'd lost her reputation, asylum, and her status. What had she to lose? Quickly she prepared a spell to slam her arrogant rival through the wall. Adrenaline rushed through her veins. This was it do or die. Kill or be killed. She was risking everything. As Lenora grabbed her staff everything felt like it was in slow motion. As she went through the motions to cast the spell she could catch a glimpse of Baleana reaching for her wand. Lenora was too slow.

Within a fraction of a second a sickly green bolt expelled from Baleana's wand and slammed directly into Lenora. Lenora found herself practically glued to the bed as she was surrounded by a green aura. She couldn't move.

"Stupid girl," remarked Lenora as she twirled her wand casually in her hand as she brushed her silver hair aside, "If you can't beat a simple turncoat what makes you think you can beat me?"

"You bloody-!" Lenora was cut off as Baleana merely snapped her fingers and the aura surrounding her brightened along with excruciating pain all throughout her body.

"You fool! Shut up or I'll kill you!" screamed Baleana. Panting she drew a piece of parchment out of her cloak and shoved into Lenora's screaming face. "You see this? This?! This is what I found in your quarters along with payment asking the Silent Blade to assassinate me!"

In all her pain, Lenora barely registered the parchment in Baleana's hand. How could she have found that message to the the Silent Blade. The Silent Blade. Highly wanted in drow society. A famed killer, she was a cold assasin used by drow nobles when they wanted to bump one another off. Leave some gold by your windowsill with a note and she would do the deed. Eyewitness accounts told little. The only thing know of the fugitive was they were a young female who wore a cape. That was all anyone knew.

Lenora cried out more as the pain intensified. She underestimated Baleana's resourcefulness. This was it. Everything was going to hell. She had her chance to escape and failed.

"Well, looks like it's over for you." said Balaena as she pointer her wand at Lenora's immobilized form. "Goodbye Lenora,"

Lenora braced herself for the end and with a flash of blue light from Baleana's wand there was only blackness.

* * *

Inra was getting impatient.

"Well what are we waiting for?" said Inra as she slashed the vine-like fungus in annoyance with her dagger. "Stronghold or no stronghold, I just want to get out of these damn vines.

They began to push through the vines toward the sound of the water for a good ten minutes until suddenly the vines began to get thinner and more spread out.

"I think I see an opening!" said Inra excitedly.

"Be careful." remarked Berglyn. "There's no telling what could be waiting for us there."

"I'll take my chances." mimicked Inra in Berglyn's tone and ran off.

"Inra, wait!" shouted Berglyn but it was too late. In her excitement to get out of the cramped tunnel she had sprinted away. That overconfident fool was going to get them killed. How she had pulled off all those complex assassinations with that reckless attitude was beyond him. Besides, it's not like he was ever going to ask. He did not want to hear about that dirty and evil work. Besides, he managed to hear about it all the time anyway. She was the Silent Blade after all.

All the drow gossiped about the famed Silent Blade and where she would strike next. Berglyn could hardly walk through town not hearing a citizen whisper her name. No, wonder she left the city with him. Her popularity was making her the most wanted drow in the city. It baffled him how someone so reckless could bear the mantle of being the only drow to kill multiple noble drow and not be publicly executed in the process.

Berglyn sighed. All they needed to do was travel the Underdark without getting killed. They needn't worry about drow pursuit. The likelihood of them being found in such an expansive realm were slim. However, if Inra continued like this they would be dead in little time.

Berglyn sighed and ran up to catch with Inra.


End file.
